Stolen by the Cursed Duke (Stolen by the Duke #3)

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

“ Y ou have humiliated us!” Lady Shelton shrieked, her voice piercing the grand, echoing halls. “Do you have any idea what you have done? What you have cost us?”

The carriage ride home was a blur of deafening silence, screaming in Charlotte’s ears.

Her parents’ fury simmered in the air, growing heavier with each passing second. The moment the family stepped through the door of their Mayfair home, the dam burst.

Charlotte hadn’t even removed her gloves when the tirade began.

Her mother advanced on her, eyes blazing, while Lord Shelton followed closely behind, his face dark with anger.

Louisa appeared and hovered near the base of the staircase, wringing her hands, her pale face betraying her distress.

“I have done nothing,” Charlotte shot back, her voice trembling but defiant. “I am just as shocked as you are!”

“Shocked?” Lord Shelton thundered, his voice reverberating off the walls. “You ran off, unchaperoned, to a wedding! Then you spent two nights in the house of a bachelor—a man with a reputation like Thornvale’s—and you have the audacity to claim innocence? Do you think the world will see it that way? Do you think we can simply explain it away?”

Charlotte flinched at the venom in her father’s words but refused to back down.

“It was not like that,” she replied, her fists curling at her sides. “I went to help Lavinia, I wasn’t trying to?—”

“Help her? By ruining yourself in the process?” Lady Shelton interjected. “You have always been selfish, Charlotte, thinking only of yourself and your whims. You have dragged this family’s name through the mud, and for what? To chase after a friend’s wedding like some scandal-hungry fool?”

“Mother, that’s not fair,” Louisa said, her voice trembling as she stepped forward. “Charlotte?—”

“Quiet, Louisa!” Lady Shelton barked, rounding on her younger daughter. “Go upstairs. This does not concern you.”

“But it does!” Louisa protested, tears welling in her eyes. “Charlotte is my sister. I care about what happens to her!”

“Upstairs!” Lady Shelton shouted, pointing toward the staircase with a trembling hand. “You will not speak out of turn again!”

Louisa hesitated, her gaze darting to Charlotte, who shook her head subtly.

With a final, tearful look of apology, Louisa turned and fled up the stairs, her footsteps echoing through the house.

“I cannot believe this,” Charlotte said, her voice shaking with both anger and despair. “You are treating me like I am some common harlot when you don’t even know the full story.”

“What else is there to know?” Lord Shelton demanded, stepping closer. “You defied convention, ruined your reputation, and now, our entire family suffers for it!”

“I didn’t spread the rumor,” Charlotte said, her voice rising with desperation. “I know who did! It was Miss Evans!”

Lady Shelton crossed her arms, her mouth twisting into a sneer. “Miss Evans? Don’t be ridiculous, Charlotte. Why on earth would she do such a thing?”

“Because she wants Kinfield for herself!” Charlotte shouted, her composure beginning to crack. “She has been jealous from the start. She all but admitted it with that smug smirk on her face tonight. Well, she can have him now!”

“Jealousy?” Lord Shelton scoffed, his tone dripping with disbelief. “You think this is about jealousy? Or is this your way of avoiding responsibility for your own actions?”

“I don’t need to avoid anything because I did nothing wrong!” Charlotte’s voice broke, and she hated the tears that burned at the corners of her eyes. “I don’t want to marry Kinfield, but I wouldn’t ruin myself—and my family—just to escape him. Don’t you understand that?”

“No,” her father said, shaking his head. “I don’t believe that. You have always been trouble. That’s why we sent you away in the first place. Perhaps you should have remained in France and never returned!”

Lady Shelton stepped forward, her face cold and impassive. “What I understand, Charlotte, is that you have made yourself into a spectacle. You have brought scandal to our name, and the world will never believe it wasn’t by your own hand. Even I don’t believe it. If you’re not responsible, then who else could it be? Why would anyone else care enough to ruin you?”

The insinuation stung like a slap. “You think I did this to myself?” Charlotte asked, her voice trembling with outrage. “You truly think I would go to such lengths as lying to the scandal sheets just to avoid a man I didn’t want to marry?”

“Wouldn’t you?” Lord Shelton said coldly, his arms crossed over his chest. “You have never cared for the rules, Charlotte. You have always thought yourself above them.”

“That’s not true!” she shouted, her voice raw with frustration. “I care about this family’s name. I care about our reputation. I wouldn’t?—”

“And yet here we are,” Lady Shelton interrupted, her voice a low, icy hiss. “A family on the brink of ruin, all because of your selfish, reckless actions.”

Charlotte opened her mouth to protest, but no words came.

Her parents’ voices overlapped now, their anger feeding off each other as they hurled accusation after accusation at her.

She stood rooted to the spot, the weight of their words pressing down on her like a physical force.

Reginald appeared in the doorway, his face hard with disapproval as he took in the scene.

“Enough,” he said, his voice booming through the chaos like thunder. “You have made your point.”

“Reginald—” Lord Shelton began.

“No.” Reginald’s gaze was steady, his tone firm. “You’re not listening to her. You’re just tearing her down.”

He glanced at Charlotte, a flicker of sympathy in his eyes, before turning on his heel and walking away, leaving her alone once again to face the storm.

The rain had not eased though Magnus hardly noticed as his carriage came to a halt in front of the Sheltons’ Mayfair home.

The downpour matched the knot of dread that was tightening in his chest, each drop striking the pavement like a hammer.

He stepped out without waiting for the coachman to lower the step or offer an umbrella. Rain plastered his hair to his forehead and soaked through his coat, but he barely felt it. He had only one thought in his mind: Charlotte.

He mounted the steps to the front door in three strides, his boots pounding against the stone.

The footman who opened the door looked as though he might faint at the sight of him. Magnus didn’t bother to wait for an introduction or announcement.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

The footman’s mouth opened, but no sound emerged.

Magnus brushed past him, his boots leaving a trail of water across the polished floors.

The butler appeared next, pale-faced and nervous.

“Your Grace, forgive me, but?—”

Magnus ignored him, his keen ears catching the sound of raised voices echoing down the hall. He strode toward the commotion, his shoulders tense, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

As he drew closer, the words became clear.

“You have ruined us, Charlotte!” Lord Shelton bellowed.

“I don’t know how we’ll ever recover!” Lady Shelton’s voice trembled with hysteria, tinged with venom. “You selfish, reckless girl. How could you do this to us?”

Magnus’ jaw clenched as he entered the drawing room.

“ Enough .”

The shouting stopped abruptly, the air freezing as though the storm had suddenly invaded the house itself.

All eyes turned to him.

Lord Shelton’s face drained of color, and Lady Shelton gasped, clutching at her chest.

Even Charlotte, standing near the fireplace, appeared stunned. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, her chin held high despite the visible glint of tears in her eyes.

Magnus’ gaze swept over the room, taking in the scene with a cold, calculating air. His eyes lingered on Charlotte for a moment longer than necessary, noting the defiance in her posture, the flush of her cheeks, and the way her breathing was uneven as though she’d been running.

Then, he turned his attention to her parents.

“What is this commotion?” he asked, his voice low and cutting.

“You!” Lord Shelton began, stepping forward and attempting to muster a smile. “This is a private family matter. There is no need for?—”

“Silence,” Magnus said, his tone brooking no argument, “I have heard enough.”

Lady Shelton, still clutching her chest, seemed to recover her voice. “Your Grace, please understand?—”

“I understand perfectly well,” Magnus interrupted, his gaze icy. “I have heard the names you have called Lady Charlotte. I have heard the accusations, the vitriol. Is this how you treat your own daughter? With cruelty and disdain? And yet I, who supposedly ruined her, you still speak to with respect!”

“That is different, Your Grace,” Lady Shelton said, shaking her head. “You are?—”

“A duke and a man, yes.” His jaw clenched as he looked around them.

“She has brought disgrace upon this family!” Lord Shelton snapped, his voice rising again. He threw his arm up in the direction of his daughter, as if they might not know who he was talking about. “Do you know what this scandal has cost us?”

Magnus’ jaw tightened.

“This ends now,” he said firmly, his gaze locking onto Lord Shelton. “Lady Charlotte and I will be married in two days. Your little scandal will be over.”

A shocked silence fell over the room.

Charlotte’s lips moved, forming words that didn’t come. Her wide eyes locked onto his with confusion, anger, and something else he couldn’t make out.

He looked away.

“Two days?” Lord Shelton finally managed, his voice strangled. “But, Your Grace, the arrangements—the invitations?—”

“There will be no elaborate arrangements,” Magnus said curtly, his tone final. “It will be a private ceremony. I will see to everything myself.”

“The banns,” Lady Shelton said. “What of?—”

“I can get a special license,” Magnus added. “That is enough questions.”

Lady Shelton’s knees seemed to give way, and she sank onto the sofa with a dramatic moan.

“Oh, thank the Lord!” she cried, dabbing at imaginary tears with her handkerchief. “Your Grace, you are a man of extraordinary mercy!”

“And the dowry—” Lord Shelton began, but Magnus silenced him with a single glare.

“I neither need nor want a dowry,” Magnus said, his voice like steel. “Your money is of no consequence to me. I will take full responsibility for everything.”

“But—” Lord Shelton stammered, but Magnus cut him off.

“I will not waste another moment in debate,” he said coldly. “The matter is settled.”

He turned toward the door, his coat swirling around him like a cloak of shadows.

Charlotte took a hesitant step forward, her lips parting as though she wanted to object. Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, Magnus felt a pang of emotion.

He didn’t want to marry—and certainly not a woman like her—but her downfall had been his own fault, and this was the only way he knew how to fix things.

But he pushed it away, turned on his heel, and strode out of the room, his boots echoing against the floor.